Reading like it's going out of fashion.

I have been reading quite voraciously lately. Some cruel combination of depression and medication means that a lot of the time I cannot focus on reading much more than short magazine articles. So when I find I am capable of books, the temporality of that ability weighs heavy and while I love the reading which ensues, I never know when, all of a sudden, I'll be looking at the pages blankly and the ending of whatever I am reading will have to await my next phase.

I love reading, I love books, and I have been trying, and enjoying, genres of books which I have never totally embraced before. Let's say that trying to work out who the murderer really was does keep the pages turning!

Here's some of what I have consumed...

Refugee Boy, by Benjamin Zephaniah - A beautifully written and thought-provoking book which I bought for pennies in a charity shop. I knew I liked Zephaniah's poetry, and actually did not know he had written novels.

The book centres around a boy whose parents are Ethiopian and Eritrean, and suffer persecution where they live. The father takes his son on a 'holiday' to Britain, then seemingly abandons him in the hotel they are staying in, with a letter explaining it is for his good and safety, and he can seek asylum and be well-treated there.

Already the reader is experiencing the dilemma of whether that is the kindest thing a parent could do, or whether in fact he has actually been abandoned. His exploits and tales are beautifully and convincingly told, and I adored this book.

Book reviews to hopefully follow...
The Devil's Feather, by Minette Walters

We Need to Talk About Kevin, by Lionel Shriver

The Sculptress, by Minette Walters

The Abortionist's Daughter, by Elisabeth Hyde

Fear and Trembling, by Amelie Nothomb

Want to Play?, by P J Tracy

and I am currently reading Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life, by Thich Nhat Hanh.

See also pippa reviews blog

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Technorati tags: books; book reviews; incurable_hippie.

Hello For Now.

I've been on my first holiday in 6 years! A few days in Scarborough, by the seaside, has been a lovely, and exhausting, break away from day to day life.

More to come, but just hello for now.

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Technorati tags: photos; boats; incurable_hippie; holiday.

Book Meme: Tagged.

1. One book that changed your life?
All the Rage: Reasserting Radical Lesbian Feminism - my first real introduction to radical feminism, totally inspired me and fired me up!

2. One book you have read more than once?
The Best Little Girl in the World by Steven Levenkron. A story about an anorexic teenage girl that, as a teenager, I read and re-read obsessively. I was very disappointed, on re-reading it a couple of years ago, how twee and simplified and unrealistic it actually was.

3. One book you would want on a desert island?
Outdoor Survival Handbook: The Classic Indispensable Guide to Surviving the Outdoors by Ray Mears. Seems the obvious choice.

4. One book that made you laugh?
Join Me: The True Story of a Man Who Started a Cult by Accident by Danny Wallace - strangely compulsive book which I found difficult to put down, even though in many ways it was driving me mad. Many laugh-out-loud moments though, making it great.

5. One book that made you cry?
Life and Death by Andrea Dworkin. Devastating, but essential reading.

6. One book you wish had been written?
How to Change the World by incurable hippie.

7. One book you wish had never been written?
Any of these.

8. One book you are currently reading?
Want to Play? by P. J. Tracy. I have phases of reading thrillers, and I'm in one at the moment. This one is fitting the bill nicely!

9. One book you have been meaning to read?
The Idea of Prostitution by Sheila Jeffreys.

10. Now tag five people.
Zinkibaru
Anais Nin
slow downloads
travelling punk
Gwyn.

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Technorati tags: meme; books; incurable_hippie.

Critical Cynicism.

So, Britain is on 'critical alert' for terror attacks. Plans to explode 9 aeroplanes over the Atlantic, travelling from the UK to the US. Air chaos today.

I don't really get what's happening.

So, this potential plot was unveiled and lots of arrests and raids this morning. That's fair enough, but then all the airport security systems went into overdrive, doing mega-security checks, and banning hand luggage, drinks etc. from the planes. Alert status was raised.

And I thought, Well, if they've just done these arrests and raids, surely we're actually more safe rather than in more danger.

But what do I know? This huge big discovery happened, they're doing their best to keep us safe. That's good surely.

Then I thought, Well, why today? Were the attacks supposed to happen today? If so, it's pushing it a bit fine really, to arrest this morning. But better late than never I suppose. But if they weren't supposed to happen today, why the sudden surge in alert status? Hmmm....

I have to admit that I started thinking of Dubya, and how he is so good at terrifying Americans at the thought of further terrorism, as a means to make them so scared that they will agree with whatever nonsense he proposes (bombing anyone else, Bush?), as long as he assures them it will keep them safe, and stop terrorism.

Is that what's happening here? I think it is in general, but is today's drama to do with that in a bigger way?

And then we find out that George W. Bush was informed about this situation last Sunday, and that relevant airlines were informed yesterday.

So... it's a huge sudden terrorist threat that they knew enough about, days ago to tell idiot-blokey across the ocean, but didn't start actually doing anything practical here until today. If it's such a massive risk this morning, why not yesterday morning? Or the day before? How urgent just is it?.

And then I thought about how sometimes things like this are absolutely perfect for diverting the media from something else. Making all the media and public focus on baby bottles on planes, so that noone thinks about a (the utter disaster of Lebanon), b (Iraq's utter disaster) or c (anything else we're not hearing about. And there's plenty).

I genuinely don't understand what is happening. How far can I trust 'intelligence' after the execution of a Brazilian electrician on the tube, and the shooting of an innocent guy in the raids a few weeks ago? They claimed to be acting on vital information then. Are they now?

I don't know if we're being duped, manipulated, bullied, informed, fooled, laughed at, or protected. But it's just not sitting right, somehow.

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Technorati tags: terrorism; UK Politics; incurable_hippie; cynicism..

Volunteering Lunch Expenses Campaign.

We need your support for the Volunteering England lunch expenses campaign.

As part of Volunteering England’s ‘Right to Reasonable Expenses’ lunch campaign, we are urging volunteers and volunteer involving organisations to join us in Volunteering England’s Lunch Expenses Protest Week. We want you to post your lunch receipt to the Secretary of State The Rt. Hon. John Hutton MP at the Department for Work and Pensions to illustrate the true cost of buying lunch outside the home.

Volunteering England Protest Week will run from Monday 14th August to Monday 21st August 2006.

We must convince the DWP to withdraw their guidance ‘A guide to volunteering while on Benefits’.

We need your support to maximise the protest week.

Please forward this email to all volunteers and volunteering involving organisations you know. We are also calling on umbrella bodies that have a wider membership to circulate this message as widely as possible.

We have until Monday 21st August to make a real difference to 2 millions volunteers who could be affected by the guidance.

Below is the wording of the letter template for you to use.

To the Rt. Hon. John Hutton MP on the issue of volunteer lunch expenses.

Please find attached receipts for the cost of lunch whilst volunteering. The new interpretation in the Department for Work and Pensions ‘A Guide to Volunteering While on Benefits’ prevents volunteers on benefit from claiming reasonable expenses. We believe that:


• the guidance issued by the Department for Work and Pensions is unfair and contradictory and should be withdrawn


• lunch expenses are a legitimate expense, the cost of which should be reimbursed to benefit claimants whilst volunteering


• nearly two million people may now face an unnecessary barrier to volunteering which directly contradicts government’s expressed aim of opening up access to volunteering to disadvantaged groups.

The message and receipts should be sent to:

The Rt. Hon. John Hutton MP
Secretary of State
Department for Work and Pensions,
Richmond House,
79 Whitehall
London
SW1A 2NS

Further Information
For more information about the work and services of Volunteering England, please visit our web site.

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Technorati tags: volunteering; benefits; incurable_hippie; campaign.

Wardrobe Refashionistas.

The Wardrobe Refashion Pledge

I, Pippa hippie,

Pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of "new" manufactured items of clothing, for the period of 2 months.

I Pledge that I shall refashion, renovate, recylcle pre-loved items for myself for the term of my contract.

I Pledge that I shall create and craft items of clothing for myself with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract.

I Pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovoated, recylcled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that thy thriftyness brings!

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I was inspired to do this by a post of Caroline's, and I loved the idea. I have been altering fabrics and clothes lately (with varying techniques, results, and randomness) with mainly bleach, dye, tie-dye, embroidery (loosely!), beading, adding embellishments. I love it, and the feeling of walking down the street knowing that noone else in the world is wearing what I'm wearing. And getting compliments! Wow!

I intend to add regular posts about my refashioning of pre-loved items, both here on hippie blog, and also on the Wardrobe Refashion blog itself.

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Technorati tags: wardrobe refashion; altered clothes; incurable_hippie; creative.

Amitryptyline.

This site shows ads since the 50s in Japan, of various psychiatric drugs. Unfortunately the American site, which this one was apparently based on, is down.

Amongst (many) other things, I take this:



As advertisements go, it doesn't really fill me with confidence about this drug making me feel any better. It looks thoroughly menacing. I hope it was at least a 'before' picture!

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Technorati tags: psychiatry; drugs; incurable_hippie; mental health.

Watch Out.

Oh yes watch out, we're everywhere. You may never know if the woman giving you filthy looks as you peruse the top shelves in the newsagent is one. Or the woman who slaps you when you grope her in a club. Or the woman you live with. Or the woman opposite you in the office. Or the women you pass in the street, the library, the pub, the park or the gym.

Feminists are everywhere, so beware, misogynists. Watch out!

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Technorati tags: feminism; feminist; incurable_hippie.

Fabuloso Sunday Links.

(from H.E.R.B. (Had Enough Religious Bullshit)

Strange statues around the world

Beautiful Smoke Art

Google's accessible search engine for the visually impaired

Google Accessible Search FAQ

Population: One Person is One Pixel

Flickr Related Tag Browser

Annoy him with the cursor (flash)

Cows With Guns

One Word. So Little Time

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Technorati tags: links; comedy; incurable_hippie; beauty.

Good Advice.

“She generally gave herself very good advice (though she very seldom followed it)”.
-Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

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Imagine a Woman, by Patricia Lynn Reilly

Imagine a woman
who believes it is right and good she is woman.
A woman who honors her experience and tells her stories.
Who refuses to carry the sins of others within her body and life.

Imagine a woman
who believes she is good.
A woman who trusts and respects herself.
Who listens to her needs and desires and meets them with tenderness and grace.

Imagine a woman
who has acknowledged the past's influence on the present.
A woman who has walked through her past.
Who has healed into the present.

Imagine a woman
who authors her own life.
A woman who exerts, initiates, and moves on her own behalf.
Who refuses to surrender except to her truest self and to her wisest voice.

Imagine a woman
who names her own gods.
A woman who imagines the divine in her image and likeness.
Who designs her own spirituality and allows it to inform her daily life.

Imagine a woman
in love with her own body.
A woman who believes her body is enough, just as it is.
Who celebrates her body and its rhythms and cycles as an exquisite resource.

Imagine a woman
who honors the face of the Goddess in her changing face.
A woman who celebrates the accumulation of her years and her wisdom.
Who refuses to use her precious life energy disguising the changes in her body and life.

Imagine a woman
who values the women in her life.
A woman who sits in circles of women.
Who is reminded of the truth about herself when she forgets.

Imagine yourself as this woman.

((Imagine a Woman in Love with Herself: Embracing Your Wisdom and Wholeness))

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Technorati tags: lewis carroll; alice in wonderland; incurable_hippie; imagine a woman; poetry; women.

Best, Worst, Funniest...

Did I ever mention having a ridiculous number of letter-related disagreements with my MP? It is for that reason that the front page of today's local paper is featuring in this entry. Ha!

In less gloating news, I am currently reading:
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
Fabric Art Journals: Making, Sewing, and Embellishing Journals from Cloth and Fibers.

Currently listening to:
We Are Shampoo
Hits: the Very Best of Erasure
Hole: Celebrity Skin

Amazing blog of the week: Women's Space / The Margins.

Bizarrest search result leading to hippie blog: result number 3 for 'Lambrini and Weight Loss'.

Currently feeling: exhausted, inspired, irritated.

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Technorati tags: books; music; incurable_hippie.

Keep your Jesus off my Penis, and keep your Penis off anyone who doesn't want it.

ReSISTERance blog shares details of research which shows the extent of unwanted teenage sexual experiences.

Her information, taken from the NSPCC site, details that, amongst other things:

• "Nearly half (45%) of teenage girls in an NSPCC/Sugar magazine survey have had their bottom or breasts groped against their wishes.
  
• Fifty-six per cent* of unwanted early sexual experiences occurred for the first time when girls were aged under 14.
  
• 51% of unwanted sexual experiences happened more than once and left the girls feeling dirty (47%), ashamed/guilty (39%), worried/insecure (36%), angry (34%) powerless (30%) and frightened (27%).

Chris Cloke, NSPCC head of child protection awareness said: "Sugar readers are revealing early sexual experiences that disregard the need for consent, with young girls threatened or bribed into submitting before they are emotionally or physically ready."

Of those girls who had been pushed into doing something they didn't want:

• nearly half (44%) had been made to feel guilty for initially saying 'no'
  
• over a quarter (29%) cited simply being told by the person pushing them that it was the right thing to do
  
• 1 in eight were given drink or drugs
  
• 1 in nine were concerned that rumours would be spread about them
  
• 1 in ten were threatened physically
  
• 1 in ten were actually hurt physically
  
• 1 in ten were bribed with presents or money

In all, 43% of girls questioned said the person responsible for the unwanted experience was a boy they knew or were friends with; one in three cited a boyfriend around their age. Fourteen per cent held a family member or family friend responsible, 13% 'a group of lads', 10% a boyfriend more than five years older than them, and 4% a teacher

A large majority (91%) of the NSPCC/Sugar survey respondents judged it 'never acceptable' for someone to push a girl into a sexual experience against her wishes. Over half (55%+) still believed that their own unwanted early sexual experiences had been at least partly their fault.

Girls' perception of what is sexual abuse varied depending on the age of the perpetrator. Nine out of ten (88%) girls labelled being pushed into a sexual experience against their wishes by an adult over 18 as 'sexual abuse'. Fifty-three per cent described the same experience at the hands of someone their own age as 'pressure sex'.

The NSPCC and Sugar have joined forces to encourage young people to speak out about any concerns they have about sex. Readers can get help and support from the July issue of the magazine and by visiting a new NSPCC website www.donthideit.com which provides a confidential and anonymous space to learn what sex abuse is and how to stop it. They can also call the NSPCC's freephone 24/7 ChildLine service on 0800 1111.

One of the hardest things for me, about studying this information, was that I was not in the least surprised. The statistics, the ages, the percentages, the details were all frighteningly predictable and very reminiscent of my own teenage years. And those of so, so many girls I knew.

The NSPCC website which is referred to, Don't Hide It Any More, is, unfortunately, predictably skewed in the wrong direction.

While they do provide information to children about what sexual abuse is, and how it can manifest itself, this is limited and does not appear to mention what is abundantly clear from the statistics above: i.e. that the boys in their school can abuse them sexually and force them into sexual activity they do not want. The NSPCC site focuses almost exclusively on adults as perpetrators.

Of course, adults make up a huge percentage of sexual abusers, but denying that teenage boys and young adults are committing these crimes, and maybe believing it is ok to do so, is not okay.

In addition, on the site, all of the impetus for stopping the abuse is on the child, usually the girl, being abused. She must tell someone, and they do suggest possible outlets.

What is not approached at all is that the person who can and should actually stop the abuse is the abuser. We cannot put the responsibility for stopping sexual abuse on the girls being abused. This is impossible, dangerous and puts a false sense of control in the hands of the girl who invariably has virtually no control over this situation. This leads to much more guilt on her part, regarding how she 'should have' been able to stop it happening.

The fact is she couldn't. Had she been able to, she would have. There are a multitude of reasons why she can't make him stop. It is him who has control over abusing her and, who has control of stopping the abuse. We must stop convincing girls that it would never have happened if only she hadn't (worn that skirt, smiled at him, taken the food, been lonely, this list can go on and on).

How can we stop childhood sexual abuse? Well, the abusers need to stop abusing children. Ok?

On a lighter note, thank the Goddess, this Not At All Safe For Work link brought a shocked smirk to my face! Keep your Jesus off my Penis

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Technorati tags: sexual abuse; teenage girls; incurable_hippie; Keep your Jesus off my penis; NSPCC; Sugar Magazine.

Cleaning vegetable detritus from sheep fleeces

I love obscure words with very specific meanings. From this week's World Wide Words, I learned:

Weird Words: Sabrage
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The act of opening a bottle with a sabre.

Imagine opening a bottle with great ceremony by striking off its
neck with one sweep of a blade. Traditionally the bottle contains
champagne and the implement is always a sabre.

You might think the result will be lots of broken glass and mess,
but the skill of sabrage lies in hitting the bottle hard just at
the bottom edge of the annulus, the glass ring at the top of the
neck. The blow breaks the neck off cleanly, complete with cork.
Experts advise you chill the bottle very well and avoid shaking it,
remove the foil and wire cage, hold it away from you at an angle of
about 40 degrees and strike with the bottle seam uppermost. Do not
try this at home, kiddies. In truth, a sabre is optional: almost
any hard object with an edge will do it.

At least one organisation, the Confrérie du Sabre d'Or, maintains
this tradition at its champagne parties. But otherwise, both it and
the term are rarely encountered. Stories hold that it dates from
Napoleonic times and was invented by cavalry who found it difficult
to open champagne bottles while on horseback, but did have usefully
heavy sabres handy. You may celebrate the ingenuity of this story
with a small glass of something bubbly if you wish.

Its language origin is definitely the French "sabrer", to hit with
a sabre. It's a close relative of "sabreur", one who fights with a
sabre, best known in "beau sabreur", a fine soldier or dashing
adventurer. But the modern French "sabrage" mundanely refers to
cleaning vegetable detritus from sheep fleeces.

Who knew?!

PS To the bastard who found hippie blog by googling where to buy a trafficed woman cost yesterday, fuck off. I hope your penis falls off.

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Technorati tags: language; sabrage; incurable_hippie; quirky.

Women Fight Back.

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Yesterday, on the Jerk List blog, I posted about Steven Green, and four other US soldiers who raped a young woman then killed her whole family. It is horrifying. At Women's Space / The Margins, there are three articulate and terrifying posts looking at the issues of rape as a weapon of war, and how this is not a 'one-off' event, but inherent to how the US & Allies are fighting the war.

Trigger warnings are most certainly relevant, especially for post two which has graphic and disturbing photographs. With that warning, the three posts from Women's Space / The Margins, are here:
Post 1 - The Rape of Iraq: Deep Sexing the News
Post 2 - The Rape of Iraq, part 2
Post 3 - The Rape of the Hadji Girl Part 3.

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Women are fighting back in Birmingham, against the growing commodification of women's bodies in the form of ever increasing numbers of lap dancing clubs in the area.

They say,

For those old enough to remember the women's protest group of the 70's and 80's, 'Women Fight Back' are back!

The increasing emergence of lap dancing clubs in the city was enough to make a group of local women and girls take up the challenge of fighting back against the exploitation of women's bodies for men's profit and enjoyment. The exploitation of women's bodies seems to be becoming a more and more acceptable medium for advertising and entertainment. What was once deemed politically incorrect 20 years ago is now deemed as being okay, It would seem that with all the Equal Opportunities policies we now have in society, women's equality is now considered guaranteed and safe from threat. Policies have actually resulted in women' issues being put on the back burner, the fight is over, so anyone discriminating against us in the workplace etc will be taken to court. However what we are actually left with is a green light to sexism, there is no resistance to exploitation of our bodies anymore, there doesn't need to be because there is a policy that does that for us!

Lap Dancing clubs are emerging everywhere, Birmingham has been described as the 'lap dancing capital of the country'. Adverts for Spearmint Rhino appear on billboards along the city’s major roads. Wherever you drive around the city, the image of a sexily clothed woman lying back under text that says, 'The Negotiator', is inviting men along to clubs to negotiate their price for her.

Women Fight Back are serious in their intention to rid the city of these centres of sexual exploitation and of the harm that they cause to women, children and society as a whole. Campaigning will take on many forms, there will be something for all women to get involved with, age is no problem, as long as you are female you can get involved. Email the link below for more info or get involved.
womenfightback@hotmail.co.uk

I am so, so pleased that these women in Birmingham are doing this. Working together as women and girls, with a clear and vivid political and feminist understanding of the meaning of women's bodies being bought and sold, the messages this gives out to men and women, girls and boys, and the inherent exploitation and danger in these types of men's clubs.

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On the front page of today's Sheffield Star newspaper is a story about a 16 year old Kenyan-born girl, who was pregnant after being forced into prostitution by men who bought and sold her.

She was held captive in a flat, possibly in London, after being shipped to the UK by men who told her she would be working as a house lady.

Her captors regularly beat and raped her and forced her to sleep with 10 men a day for nine months.

She eventually became pregnant by one of her captors but was forced to continue sleeping with clients.

She was driven to Sheffield and dumped when she became too pregnant to work.

That women and girls are being literally bought and sold, kept captive, used as prostitutes, raped and tortured, is not a surprise to me, but is always a shock. It is positive that the local paper was duly outraged and publicised the issue, but unfortunately this girl's situation is not that unusual. This particular girl is now apparently being 'looked after', and I really hope she is. The police are looking for the pimps / traffickers / kidnappers / rapists and I bloody hope they catch them. But we, and they, need to do more.

We need a world where no women are commodities to be exploited and sexualised and objectified and beatn and raped. Where this modern-day slavery is unheard of.

These three stories, blogged today, are immensely depressing yet there is also some encouragement, that being that we can see clearly that there are women who speak out, women who ask for help, women who join together to campaign, women who will not hide the truth and who will not tell lies about what happens to women.

Women Fight Back That's a statement of fact, and a plea.

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Technorati tags: Iraq; feminism; incurable_hippie; rape; anti-prostitution; trafficking women; Women Fight Back; anti-war; campaigns.

Illustration Friday: Skyline.

100_0437
Originally uploaded by incurable_hippie.

Illustration Friday

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Technorati tags: Illustration Friday; skyline; incurable_hippie; photography; Sheffield..

The Eyes as the Window to the Soul.

I have got conjunctivitis and blephitis. It's not nice, and it's certainly not pretty, and I'm surprised by just how ill I feel.

It's Dubya's 60th birthday. I do hope he announces his retirement shortly.

Things to read:

Zoe Williams: I Have, I'm Not Ashamed

One In Seven

Call for Investigation into Murder of Guatemalan Women

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Technorati tags: eyes; women; incurable_hippie; disability.

Essential Reading for the Day.

McDonaldisation of Sex.
Domestic violence accounts for a quarter of all violent crime, with one woman in four being a victim.

The contribution made by unpaid workers is forgotten in the drive for full employment...

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Technorati tags: domestic violence; anti-pornography; incurable_hippie; volunteering.

A Massive Failure - Conditons Worse Than Ever in Iraq.

Bill Neely (ITN's chief international editor) was an 'embedded' reporter who has now broadcast some horribly honest reports about how things really are in Iraq. He reports from Basra, from a hospital where there are now fewer drugs available to the doctors than during sanctions. People are having amputations where, with standard drugs available, they wouldn't need to. There have been no cancer treatments available for three years.

This is all in Basra, Iraq's second city, supposedly controlled by the British army and not so long ago portrayed by Bush and Blair as calm and orderly, in contrast to the rest of Iraq. Neely calls it 'a massive failure'.

You can see one of his reports here. It's hard to watch, but really, really vital.

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Technorati tags: Iraq; health; incurable_hippie; Basra.

Inspire Me Thursday: In Good Time

Inspire Me Thursday: Playing with watercolour, canvas, collage.

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Technorati tags: Inspire Me Thursday; In Good Time; incurable_hippie; art.

I love this time of year...

... though we've passed Solstice, so it's all downhill from here.

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Technorati tags: photography; flowers; incurable_hippie.

The Law taking the Law into their own hands.

Our police have really fucked up.

I remember the morning of the raid, and wondering how on earth you could fit 250 police officers into a terraced house. Why would they send that many, if only because it's not practical.

I remember hearing that the police had shot one of the men in the house, then that the police said that his brother had shot him, then just that he had been shot.

It turns out to have indeed been the police who shot him, and apparently after shouting no warning, not even identifying themselves as being the police, and not against any kind of threat from the guy.

Within days the police realised there was nothing they had done, there was nothing they could charge them with, and they released both the blokes.

You can see the press conference with the two brothers here. They just look totally exhausted, bewildered, and hurt. One of them had applied to be a community police officer, the other had been asked if he was a member of various terrorist organisations, including the fucking KKK.

What did the police think they were doing? At all stages of the thing?

I am somewhere between very angry and very upset, and have been when following this story since it started.

The police can't just take this power, can't just go round shooting people. The lads can't return to their house because it was stripped to the floorboards.

What a mess. Let's hope the Police Complaints Commission actually does properly investigate this thing and come up with some answers.

Yep, they were Asian men, with beards. The last guy was Brazilian. We really don't want this shooting people who have been wrongly accused of anything, while they are undefended thing to keep on.

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Technorati tags: police; angry; incurable_hippie; racism; rant.

Beware!

My favourite place of tonight: Pictures of Walls.

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Technorati tags: graffiti; subvertising; incurable_hippie; urban.

Important Notice from the DVLA

Due to the nature of the quality of driving in England the Department of Transport has now devised a new scheme through the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority, and the Driving Standards Agency, in order to identify poor drivers and give good drivers the opportunity to recognise them whilst driving.

For this reason, as from the middle of May 2006, those drivers who are found to be driving badly, which includes:

- overtaking in dangerous places
- hovering within one inch of the car in front
- stopping sharply
- speeding in residential areas
- pulling out without indication
- performing U turns inappropriately in busy highstreets
- under taking on motorways and
- taking up more than one lane in multi lane roads

will be issued with flags, white with a red cross, signifying their inability to drive properly. These flags must be clipped to a door of the car and be visible to all other drivers and pedestrians.

Those drivers who have shown particularly poor driving skills will have to display a flag on each side of the car to indicate their greater lack of skill and general lower intelligence mindset to the general public.

Please circulate this to as many other motorists as you can so that drivers and pedestrians will be aware of the meaning of these flags.


Yours sincerely,

The Department of Transport

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Technorati tags: driving; cars; incurable_hippie; football; World Cup; England.

Clever Entertainment.

Today's fun thing to watch is The Incredible Machine. If you like it when people line up lots of dominos on a course and knock the first one over, then you will love this. It seems to use household objects and masses of ingenuity to create 14 minutes of video that just doesn't feel like it lasts that long. Watch it here.

I have lots and lots of animations, songs, videos and cleverness listed on the one page, initially for my benefit but it is now shared and enjoyed by many! You can find it here, at Animations to Watch. Suggestions for additions welcome, too.

This water balloon explosion photo is bloody incredible.

And last night's I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue was great, not least for Jeremy's singing.

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Technorati tags: video; photo; incurable_hippie; clever; radio 4 comedy.

Apologies.

100_0110
Originally uploaded by incurable_hippie.

Apologies for my recent quietness. I've been here in spirit, but I guess you don't know that.

I am still alive. Thought I should let you know.

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Technorati tags: hot air balloon; photography; incurable_hippie; sorry.

Newest ATCs.

Some artist trading cards I recently created.

Firstly, a 'butterfly swap':


Secondly, a 'travel swap':

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Technorati tags: ATCs; artist trading cards; incurable_hippie; creative.

Technological Turmoil

I was all excited a week or so ago, because after being slightly cheeky and ringing my ISP to see if they could improve on my current contract, they offered me 4x the speed for a fiver less a month. Sounds marvellous!

I was all excited, until the speed actually went up. I connected, went WOW new speed, and then nothing worked. 24 hours, 5 calls and 7 tech support operators later, I am finally connected.

There's nothing quite like the stress of a not-working computer. I don't know why it winds me up so immensely, but it really does and I hate it.

hippie blog was also having problems loading, and a consistent problem in the page loading was to do with pings.ws. I have now removed every trace of that site from my html coding and, lo and behold, hippie blog works again.

I wish my body was so easy to resolve (remove a bit of bad coding or a link to a site that doesn't work), but I am at the (hopefully) end phase of The Cough which currently everyone who's everyone in Sheffield is suffering with. I have had a course of antibiotics and a course of oral steroids and, though I am still coughing, I am, I think, on the up. As it were.

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Technorati tags: tech support; html; incurable_hippie; pings.ws; cough.

Labour Labours.

Thank you for all the comments and votes on my post about the local elections. I found it an interesting consultative study!!

The results are now in. Quite surprisingly, given the political atmosphere lately, the Liberal Democrats (who had a possible chance of re-taking the nearly-always Labour council, as they did in 1999) lost two seats, one of which went to Labour (who held control of the council) and the other to the Green Party (who now have two seats).

Overall Sheffield Local Election Results 2006
Labour 44 seats (no change)
Liberal Democrats 35 seats (-1)
Conservatives 2 seats (no change)
Green Party 2 seats (+1)
Independent 1 seat (no change)

I've been looking at the more specific, ward by ward results and the BNP bastards got many hundreds of votes, even coming second in one area. I hear they are even the official opposition now in Barking.

So where do we go from here? I want everyone who has been privileged enough to be elected to use their power and influence well, to make changes for the better for people and the world, and to be generally all-round groovy kinda folks. I guess that's what that whole incurable hippie thing is about. I know, I know, it will all go on before, with a few new faces. But for a chronic depressive, I have a surprising level of optimism going on a lot of the time.

But not enough to actually believe that what I hope for will come true. *SiGH*

[Edited to add - I realise I have contradicted myself with what I said about Labour gaining one Lib Dem seat and Greens another, when the table I copied and pasted said Lib Dem only lost one seat, to the Greens, but that is the different info I have got from the BBC website and the Sheffield City Council site. Time will tell, I guess, which is correct!]

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Technorati tags: local election results; Sheffield; incurable_hippie; UK Politics.

I'd say Oy, Carol, No!

This appeal is to ask the respected TV presenter, Carol Vorderman, famed for her mathematical nous, to, after nine years, stop doing secured loan adverts.

Please sign the petition (Please forward/tell friends and family about this)

The "Carol Vorderman: Secured Loan Ads Don't Add Up" Appeal

Supported by debt counselling charity The CCCS and money education charity Credit Action

The British public now collectively owe a massive £1,100,000,000,000. The secured loan market has increased five times over the last five years and the growing normalization of these loans is a danger to our society. Sold as a 'cure all' where people place all their debts together, secured loans are often actually potentially expensive debts, which trap people in for long periods, and if you can't repay, they can take your home.

For nine years Carol Vorderman's advertised these loans. Advertising works, that's why companies pay for it, and over time her powerful advertisements will have contributed to the growing normalization of this form of borrowing. I believe this is truly worrying, as secured loans should only ever be seen as loans of last resort. I would like her to stop and I'd urge all who agree to sign the petition to let her know.

Read/sign the online petition: www.moneysavingexpert.com/carol

Please forward/tell friends, colleagues and family about the petition.
The more supporters, the more impact it will have.

The appeal also calls for secured debt firms to develop a charter of responsible advertising that only targets the limited number of niche individuals who could possibly benefit from the product.

Read more about the appeal, how secured loans work, and why Carol?

This appeal is supported by the UK's largest debt charity the Consumer Credit Counselling Service and the money education charity Credit Action.

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Technorati tags: credit cards; debt; incurable_hippie; carol vordermann; petition.

Think Global, Act Local.

The local elections are tomorrow. I was unenthusiastic, to say the least, about my voting options but as I got a postal ballot, I have already (after much deliberation) filled in my ballot paper and decided who, if anyone, gets my X.

But for the sake of interest, what would you have done?



Labour currently runs the Council in Sheffield. There are some good things being done - lots of regeneration and positive stuff around the city centre. There are also some very unsatisfactory aspects - doorstep recycling provision is appalling, council housing is being demolished at an alarming rate, and the buses are becoming a disaster.

I've had two leaflets and letters from the Liberal Democrats. They spent a lot of time telling me that a vote for anyone other than them is a vote for Labour and I really don't believe in tactical voting (with the occasional exception when the BNP is involved). They also gave over a lot of space to ranting about the evils of Park Hill, when they are being not only snobby, but also strictly speaking it has little to do with my ward which is quite a distance away from there.

The Conservatives are not an option I'd consider voting for under any circumstances, so I won't even merit them with any pros and cons.

And Green - often an attractive option for me - have been, well, underwhelming in their approach. I have not heard a single thing from them. I don't know what they are standing for in this election, I don't know anything about the local candidate, whether they have a chance of getting in, or what they want to do, even!

That is just looking at the very local issues. I am entirely unimpressed with any of the main parties nationally, and while I do want to bear the national parties' issues in mind (e.g. not voting Tory), I do also want to think about Sheffield, and my area within Sheffield.

I have filled in my ballot paper, as I said, but reluctantly. What would you have done? Vote in my poll, above.

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Technorati tags: local elections; Sheffield; incurable_hippie; UK politics; local government.

Blogging Against Disablism.

Some time ago, BBC Ouch, the BBC's disability webpages, ran a survey of its readers' Worst Words relating to disability. The results were as follows:

Total votes cast: 2053
1. Retard 19.6% (404 votes)
2. Spastic 18% (373 votes)
3. Window-licker 17% (350 votes)
4. Mong 13.4% (276 votes)
5. Special 10.2% (210 votes)
6. Brave 7.9% (163 votes)
7. Cripple 5.5% (113 votes)
8. Psycho 2.9% (60 votes)
9. Handicapped 2.5% (52 votes)
10. Wheelchair-bound 2% (42 votes)

Interestingly, they also have a chart of the different results as divided by disabled and non-disabled respondents to the survey.
I have mostly unpleasant gut responses to many of those words, but one of my own worst words in terms of offensive terms used against disabled people is nutter.

I hate this word. It hits me like a punch in the stomach, it makes me sad, scared and angry. Its implications are, in my experience, ones of violence and aggression, as well as mental illness. Those links are all too prevalent in much of the widespread opinions and thoughts about mental illness, and people who experience it.

Many of us work incredibly hard to break the links constantly. We have statistics! We have facts!

Did you know that people with mental illness are much more likely to hurt themselves than anyone else?
Did you know that people who have mental illnesses are victims of crime more often than those who don't?
Did you know that the most dangerous group in society, those most liable to commit violent crimes, are young men who drink?

The media really doesn't help. You may remember the 'Bonkers Bruno' headline in the sun, or Osama bin Laden being described as 'psychotic'. 'Schizo', 'Psycho', 'Maniac', 'Mad' are all words which are used prolifically in headlines and stories designed to alarm and rouse people's fears and opinions.

The media has so much power to spread correct information and to break stigmatic associations with mental illness, but instead it grabs the Mad, Bad, Dangerous headlines and exploits and glorifies them.

Mental illness and violence are different things. Using the same words to describe both, or borrowing a word from one to use to discuss the other all do an incredible disservice to the 1 in 4 people in Britain who will experience mental distress at some point in their life.

There is more than enough stigma already, it is hard enough already to ask for and receive support and help for anxiety, depression, hearing voices, paranoia, or whatever may strike. The proposed changes to the Mental Health Bill don't help, the media don't help, and the rantings of uninformed people who are happy to blame all the world's (street's, town's, room's) ills on the poor sods who are easily available to target because they may talk to themselves, or hide away, or cry a lot.

Using stigmatising language, and constantly making connections between mental illness and violence - connections which don't exist in any objective study! - creates fear and hate, and does nobody any good.

As someone witty said at the time shortly after September 11th 2001, "If Osama bin Laden is being described at psychotic, it must be because of his mistaken belief that large numbers of people are out to get him".

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Technorati tags: Blogging against Disablism Day; disability; incurable_hippie; mental illness; mental health; stigma.

Click-click.

The final of the Snooker World Championship has started. I'm disappointed that I don't feel especially positive about either Ebden or Dott, but I will still watch the match (or at least some of it - these things last a long time!) with joy.

Firstly, it is taking place in Sheffield's Crucible Theatre, which is not far from me in the city centre. The BBC tents and 'snooker courtesy cars' and big screen have been more than conspicuous these last two weeks. Secondly, I just love snooker - it's exciting yet calming, it's vicious yet entirely polite, and it's totally absorbing, and totally relaxing.

I never understood snooker until one year when the championships were on and I was in hospital. I was incredibly depressed and basically lay in bed all day. One day BBC two was on on the TV in front of me, and as I was too miserable to move and do anything about it, I resigned myself to watching the snooker which was on there. After doing this for a day I understood the rules, understood what all the fuss was about, and was hooked. It probably helped that I saw a 147 that day, and *got* the whole thing.

There are plants of each of the colours of all the snooker balls in the game outside where the matches are being played too. Hence the pictures.

I dunno who I'll be supporting this evening - often if a match starts and I have no favourite, I do find myself warming to one or the other as it goes on, so we will see.

Anyway, I had better go and listen to a few hours of that click-click noise, which can only ever mean one thing.

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Technorati tags: snooker; snooker world championship; incurable_hippie; Crucible Theatre; Sheffield; plants.

Spotted...

outside Sheffield station yesterday.

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Technorati tags: language; funny; incurable_hippie; signs.

Illustration Friday: Under the Sea.

100_1163
Originally uploaded by incurable_hippie.

This is an Artist Trading Card I made entitled Under the Sea. I am posting it here for this week's Illustration Friday.

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Technorati tags: ATCs; artist trading cards; incurable_hippie; Under the Sea; Illustration Friday.

Pink Rebellion.

When I was a kid, I really wanted one of these pink toy knitting machines, but was never fortunate enough to get one. So when I spotted this one in a WRVS charity shop yesterday, for a measly 4 quid, I had no choice but to purchase it! It has so far been fun and works surprisingly well. I am, though, a bit stuck now until I get hold of the one item which should have been in the box and wasn't - a darning needle - but otherwise it's just marvellous. And so very pink!

I heard on Woman's Hour this morning, a piece on the Playboy bunny logo being used on products being marketed and sold to children. I wrote about this here, last September and mentioned it here, too.

The new-ish group, Sheffield Fems, have been running a campaign against WHSmith, John Lewis and Claire's Accessories, to try and persuade them to stop selling porn advertising to children. Apparently John Lewis and Claire's Accessories are actually going to do so - which is an amazing achievement and such a brilliantly positive step forward. Neither of them credit Sheffield Fems for having influenced their decision, but I'm sure that this articulate, passionate group of women played a part.

So when it was on Woman's Hour this morning, I was interested to listen to the discussion. There was clear objection to pre-teen and early teen kids advertising a huge porn brand on their stationery and clothes at school. There was a feeling that young girls did not know what the brand represented - because it's essentially a cute bunny, if you don't know otherwise. There was not a discussion about how such widespread exposure to pornographic logo promotion also leads to a total desensitisation of (girl and boy) children, so that when they become conscious of what / who Playboy are, and what they do, it already has other connotations for you and is entirely normalised.

One of the most disturbing contributions to the discussion was from some older teenage girls, who said that maybe a few years ago they'd have used Playboy stationery, but really it was a bit childish and they had outgrown it. Stunned? Yep, I was.

In the spirit of googlebomb, all mentions of the p1ay80y company name are linked to radical feminist websites.

In the spirit of all girly things pink - get a knitting machine, not a not-so-cute-when-you-know-what-it-means bunny t-shirt. Seriously.

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Technorati tags: feminism; evil playboy; incurable_hippie; campaigning; pink.

You Belong To Me.

This is so fucked up. 11 year old girls stating to their fathers that, I pledge to remain sexually pure...until the day I give myself as a wedding gift to my husband. ... I know that God requires this of me.. that he loves me. and that he will reward me for my faithfulness.

Girls promising to remain a virgin until the father passes the ownership of the girl's body to the new fucking owner, the husband.

The Father states, I, (daughter’s name)’s father, choose before God to cover my daughter as her authority and protection in the area of purity. I will be pure in my own life as a man, husband and father. I will be a man of integrity and accountability as I lead, guide and pray over my daughter and as the high priest in my home. This covering will be used by God to influence generations to come. (my bold)

I recommend popping over to Pandragon's response to it, which articulately and angrily discusses what this is really about.

Needing niceness to follow that, (ok that was a crap link but this entry is a bit of a conglomeration of randomness), all I can say is, oooohhhhhh aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh. Bless!

And I liked this ending to an email I received from someone I had just bought something off on ebay:

As long as there is no earthquake, nuclear explosion, broken legs, hurricanes,
floods, post office strikes, sick children (in my house), sudden huge increase
in postal prices, desert storms, giant hailstones dropping from the skies
or other similar catastrophies your item will be posted within 72 hours of
cleared payment.

I know how she feels!

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Technorati tags: patriarchy; baby hedgehogs; incurable_hippie; humour.

Happy Easter!

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Technorati tags: Easter; Easter bunnies; incurable_hippie; chocolate.

Bastard.

Is it possible to be kind of flashed at? Because I was kind of flashed at.

He said he was far from home and desperate for a wee. But he had been able to see me approaching for several seconds, he deliberately drew my attention to his penis, and he made no attempt to hide or cover it or move himself.

Was he having a piss, or was he waiting round a corner for a woman on her own, to flash at?

Does the answer to that question affect how I am supposed to feel about it? Are we supposed to be traumatised by the deliberate flashing, and not by the accidental? What if we just don't know if it was deliberate or accidental? What if we feel threatened by his presence there, and his ability to do what he did, regardless of whether he was needing the toilet or needing a power trip?

If you think he is having a piss and are not traumatised but then later you find out he was flashing deliberately, do you become traumatised?

If you think he was flashing deliberately and are traumatised, then later find out he was actually having a piss, do you then stop being upset??

I guess I'm wondering if it is the experience of seeing an unexpected penis when you walk round a corner that is frightening or offensive, or whether it is his motivation in having the penis on display that makes it scary.

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Technorati tags: flashing; indecent exposure; incurable_hippie; trauma; Jacky Fleming.

Flowery Metallic Rain.

I had a day out yesterday, with Z, my Mum, my sister and her hubby. Amongst other places, we went to the Millennium Galleries and the Winter Gardens.

Winter Gardens:



(more pics here).

Millennium Galleries:


(more pics here).

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Technorati tags: Sheffield; photography; incurable_hippie; plants; Sheffield steel.

Quietness

I'm aware I've been really quiet here lately. I'm in a fairly dark pit of depression, and am mostly hiding. I don't really want to fill hippie blog with the moaning ramblings of a, well, moaning rambler, so I've mainly been staying away. Also, coming online would involve doing things other than curling into a ball or going to bed, so hasn't been top of my list.

Moan, moan, moan.

I hope to be functioning again soon - and not, I admit, purely so that I can blog profusely again. It is mainly because feeling better would really be rather nice. But blogging profusely is an appealing part of the whole plan.

Hope to be back properly very soon.

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Technorati tags: depression; incurable_hippie.

National Inquiry into Self-Harm report (also from my email)

Apologies for two entries in quick succession, but have just this second received the following email too.

I will read the report and come back with what I make of it. This may take some time, as my brain is currently made out of stew.

Truth Hurts - the Report of the National Inquiry into Self-harm among Young People

Self-harm among young people is a significant and growing public health challenge. Despite this, there is almost universal misunderstanding about self-harm even amongst those in closest contact with young people. In response to this, the Camelot Foundation and the Mental Health Foundation launched the National Inquiry into Self-harm among Young People in 2004. The Inquiry Panel has been meeting for two years, hearing evidence from a wide range of interested parties, but most significantly it listened to the voices of young people who have experience of self-harm. Their contributions have been vital to this work.

Truth Hurts sets out an agenda for change, making recommendations about what needs to be done in order to fully understand the prevalence of self-harm; the importance of commissioning services where young people feel listened to and respected; gathering evidence of what works in preventing self-harm and intervening once the behaviour is underway; and building a better understanding of why young people self-harm. Ultimately the aim must be that those closest to young people who self-harm are better equipped to hear their disclosures without panic, revulsion or condemnation.

It is our intention that the report will serve as a turning point in understanding self-harm and be a launch pad for changes in the prevention of, and response to, self-harm among young people throughout the UK. We hope the report is interesting and useful to you. Copies of the report can also be downloaded at www.selfharmuk.org.

As part of the ongoing work of the National Inquiry, there will be two major UK conferences in London on 6 July and Scotland in September 2006. If you would like to receive information about these events, please call us on 0207 8031161 or email gmcewan@mhf.org.uk

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Technorati tags: self-harm; self-injury; incurable_hippie; mental health.